STAFF at a Marlow IT company helped raise nearly a quarter of a million pounds at their annual May ball.

Softcat workers, along with friends, family and vendors, poured into London’s prestigious Grosvenor House Hotel for the sold-out glitzy bash on Friday night, which pulled in 940 people.

The night, which featured a set from TV comics Lee Nelson and Stewart Francis and a performance from Britain’s Got Talent winners Spelbound, generated £236,000 for national children’s charity Dreams Come True.

Chairman Martin Hellawell congratulated the Softcat charity team for arranging the star-studded event, which included an auction and raffle, and thanked staff and partners for their input.

He said: “It’s become a bit of a given now that we all go a bit nuts for charity here at Softcat, but it still stuns me every year how deep our own employees dig at events like the May Ball. Our partners too have shown massive support, so a big thank you to them.

“It’s a pleasure and a privilege for Softcat employees to be involved with charities in this way. We do it because we want to but I also think it’s great for the business.”

The IT firm, which was founded in 1993 and moved to its Marlow ten years ago, employs nearly 400 people at its Fieldhouse Lane home.

And the charity-minded employees raised a total of £16,000 for Sport Relief earlier this year when the offices were turned into a call centre to take donations for the charity.